Using Social Media To Market Your Newborn Software

Market your newborn software? Social media has opened up a new domain in marketing; one that enables those aware of its capabilities and how to best use them to garner enormous exposure in a short period of time at minimal cost.

The marketing potency of social media is one that must be understood and appreciated if you are to have any hope of succeeding in a crowded and competitive marketplace.

The term Web 2.0 may have first been used almost 14 years ago – an eternity in the Internet world but the social media sites that have evolved since that time such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the like, as well as the millions of blogs that have been created are proof positive of the concept of “power to the people.”

And if the utilization of this power has been purportedly responsible for the fall of governments, than its marketing potential truly is phenomenal.

The development and launch of your new software is a cause for celebration and anticipation. Given the amount of time, thought, and effort you have invested in this venture, once your new software is finally complete, it is tantamount to showing your new baby to the world; only, chances are that this baby was in development for much more than 9 months – and let’s hope it has less hair also.

As a software developer with a new offering in the ready you are no doubt aware of the fact that you are only half way there. The next stage in your “baby’s” development – the marketing – is no less important than the actual development, only its results should be known much sooner. Therefore, knowledge of social media and how to best use it to market your newborn software is essential.

The most obvious place to start in using social media as a marketing tool is to create a website or blog in parallel with the creation of your software. A blog enables you to apprise potential users of your software and its development, and set the market for its eventual launch which will turn your community into paying customers.

The blog will also allow those interested to send you feedback and facilitate your decision-making processes and make them feel part of the development of your software making them loyal users once it is launched.

Through the use of compelling content you become the expert in your field and a reference point for others. Consequently, when your software is launched, as the expert in the field, at least in theory, everyone should want to buy your software.

An expert has followers and fans and is a goal every marketer should set for themselves. How can I become an expert in my field you ask? Here are a few ways to do so:

Quora: A platform of knowledge. Users from all around the globe ask question on every subject. Search questions in your field of expertise and start answering them. Other people on Quora will start noticing you and think “I should defiantly consult with guy”. Once you gain peoples trust, offer them to try out your software.

Twitter: We all know twitter is a great place for interaction, if you are doing it right. Twitter has so much potential that’s it’s a shame not to use it. Start by following “leaders” of your field, look them up in sites like Twellow, a blogs posts and comments. Interact with them and make yourself noticeable.

Tweetchat: Sign up for tweetchats and choose the topics by hashtags that relate to you. For example if you are an upcoming diamond company, search for tweechats about jewelry and accessorizing. Give your insights, be whitty and funny and you will gain more followers.

Guest Blog: Offer your knowledge to sites that relate to your field, right good useful content and you will reach a lot of future customer. Another similar way is to ask to be featured. Ask other experts to try your software out and write about it.

Once you got the followers you can jump up and down in joy. Now why should your loyal followers buy your software? How about giving away a basic version for free or at the very least for a free trial? This will provide your followers with some sort of reward for their input as well as garnering good publicity and hopefully enticing them to pay for a more feature filled (and for pay) version of your offering.

Be a conduit by putting your followers in contact with each other. Be a “giver” and you’d be surprised how much others are willing to give in return. By being human you will generate the best publicity money cannot buy – word of mouth.

By casting a wide net you never know what you might catch. Perhaps one of your followers, due to your generous nature, will put you in contact with the right type of bloggers – those with a dedicated following who can kick start your product by providing positive feedback and perhaps a link to your website or blog.

Another important thing to do is to always keep an eye your competitors. Use competitor’s blogs as a way of gathering information, checking marketing tactics, and building your own online presence. You can use their resources to quickly build up your own following by being insightful and making contact with like-minded individuals by email or in different forums.

It may not seem very ethical but welcome to the Internet and social media marketing. And anyway, all is fair in love and war, I mean business.

The world of social media marketing is fraught with both opportunity but it takes time to learn the ropes; you must invest a lot of time to reap its rewards and even then there is no guarantee. It takes more than just planting seeds, you need to nourish them to turn into beautiful trees. And once this happens, you get to pick the fruits and use its branches for shade.

What About You?
I’d love to hear how and where you’re planting your seeds. Tell me about it in the comments below and let’s grow a garden together.

Forums can be great aswell, but the good think about Quora for example is that it has such a strong domain that people looking for information also on Google are more likely to get to you and your advice.

If you are good at what you do, you will get very far. Being smart is being patient, and going one step at a time. Everyone want to get to the big channels but as they say, only fools rush in. Focusing on quality and gaining an audience is much more important when begining to marketing, and the marketing begins a lot before any software is ready. All about the buzz!